dangerous tornadoes rip through the central u.s. reports of massive damage in some areas. another angle to the south carolina shooting. a breakdown of the newly released dash cam video. forced to flee. how yemeni civilians are risk their lives to escape the battle zone. become to our viewers in the united states and around the world. you're >> and our top story this hour takes us to the u.s. where a violent storm system packed with

tornadoser to through parts of the midwest. check this out. that's an example of what people went through. there is confirmation of one death in nearby fairdale, illinois. eight injuries in dekalb county. back in rochelle, there were multiple reports of injuries. north of that city, a storm chaser said he spotted homes with only their foundations remaining. one couple rescued after being trapped by debris. >> the building blew down and fell on the two doors that had to be lifted to get out. our car is sitting right over

there. >> it's wiped out. >> the severe weather threat continues for some at this hour so let's check in with derek, who is following these developments. this is serious stuff. >> it really is. the national weather service earlier on thursday night here in the united states, they declared this as a particularly dangerous situation. severe weather still ongoing for some but it is improving for many. this is, in fact, what is called a wedge tornado. hope i will you can get those videos up in just a second. you can see it on your screen. that is a very large tornado. now it's the national weather service's job to determine whether this was an ef 4 or 5

tornado but look at the damage that was caused by this particular tornado. homes ripped right off of their foundation as natalie mentioned a moment ago and reports some of the gas lines there still hissing because they have been severed just by the strength of the wind. i want to show you an area where the tornados occurred. 13 tornados across parts of the u.s. i want to show you a radar image of the greater rochelle area in illinois during the time of the tornado that went through the region. notice that purple ball. that's what we call a debris ball. this is important because that wedge tornado is so large and it picked up so much dust and debris that it showed up on some of our radar reflectivity. the storm continued to move exit shows you just how dangerous

these storms can actually be. we still have a tornado watch that's in effect for places like kentucky and parts of illinois and into indiana. that's ongoing for the next several hours. however, the wide scale threat of severe weather not the issue that we had earlier this evening. now we start to focus our attention into the atlantic states. >> we went from severe winter right into tornados. >> absolutely. >> that was a huge tornado that video. >> terrifying to see that. >> we might see some incredible video at daylight. >> if the next few days we will be talking about this. >> in other news that we're following, in south carolina authorities are now sharing another piece of evidence. newly released dash cam video shows us the moments that led up to the deadly altercation between an unarmed black man and a white officer.

martin savage reports on what this new footage reveals. we warn you this story is graphic. >> dash cam video capturing the moment police officer michael slager pulls over walter scott saturday morning. moments later, slager approaches the car and asks scott for his driver's license. you hear the conversation because slager is wearing a microphone. less than a minute later the talk turns to paper work over scott's recent purchase of the car. slager returns to his patrol car. moments later, scott starts to get out of his car. the officer shouts a command. less than 30 seconds later, scott gets out of his car and runs. the rest of what happens is out of view of the camera and is

only picked up in pieces of audio from slager's microphone. shortly after that, scott is shot dead. but the video shows something else that could be key to that terrible day. look closely and you see that someone is in the car with walter scott when he was stopped. the person is also noted in one of the supplemental narratives given by a police officer who arrived at the shooting. the officer said i also spoke to the passenger of the vehicle that was stopped. the passenger was detained and placed in the backseat of the vehicle. but the passenger is never identified and there's no mention of what happened to him. even scott's own family says they have no idea who the mystery rider might be. >> unfortunately he is not here to tell us who was riding with

him. hopefully we will find that out soon and if you know let me know. >> so far no one has come forward to say they were with scott or explain why a traffic stop so quickly accelerated into a shooting that shocked a nation. cnn, north charleston, south carolina. >> officer slager's mother gave her first interview. she told abc news that her son loved his job. >> he loved being a police officer. i can't imagine doing something that -- it's just not like him. not his character. i just have to let it be and hope god takes care of everybody involved. not only my family but the scott family. i know they're grieving just like i'm graving. >> officer michael slager has

been terminated from the police force. he is formally charged with walter scott's murder. >> >> new video appears to show deputies beating a suspect for nearly two minutes straight. knbc shot these scenes from their helicopters. the deputies with the sheriff's department were chasing a man wanted for identity theft. the officers tried to use tasers but that didn't work. the sheriff calls the video disturbing and he says he has ordered an internal investigation. the horse, the man allegedly stole and three deputies were injured. the suspect has been hospitalized. now we turn to fighting in yemen. rebels are hiding in cities and they say that's putting civilians at risk.

air strikes targeted thursday and they also hit missile depots and a military base. the coalition is trueing to drive out the rebels and restore yemen's president to power. in the meantime, people in yemen are trying to get out. they are fleeing their homes by the thousands because they have been called up in the middle of this fighting. many are making the dangerous journey by sea to zjibouti. -- djibouti. >> we went up to the north of djibouti where we found this incredibly dangerous crossing of one of the busiest waterways in the world but they told us they didn't really have a choice. take a look at this natalie. increasingly desperate yemenese,

djibouti is becoming a popular destination. they are making their journey across it in fishing vessels. often we are told there are three or four families jammed in at a time. a quiet little fishing port in djibouti. we find this man and his wife turning their daily government ration into the family's lunch. they are one of 50 families kweez squeezed into this building site while the camp is being built. while her family is sitting eating together like this she can almost forget the night of the aerial bombardment.

is. >> reporter: her son described the family's long journey in a ricket fishing boat as a window to help. >> reporter: but not everyone in the family made the journey. anna's daughters and families are still in yemen, cut off from all communication. talking about it, amna became

too overcome to go on. as the conflict escalates, more and more yemenese are expected to make the crossing. all hoping it won't be too long before they can turn around and go home. >> reporter: the u.n., natalie, is now ringing alarm bells over what it is calling a humanitarian catastrophe inside yemen. they are really concerned about the mass displacement of people and they are worried that more and more will take that dangerous crossing to what is essentially their closest safe haven. >> yes. we know that the red cross hasn't been able -- had trouble getting into yemen to help people who have been caught up in the fighting and you just wonder how prepared is djibouti to handle this influx of refu e

refugees. >> reporter: the red cross has now gotten a few supplies in but it's not nearly enough. msf doctors without borders have been able to get a little bit of supply. it is a very good question. djibouti has population of less than a million. for now the djibouti government is providing rations to the refugees but you get the sense with the expected influx that the u.n. is warning might be on their way, the djibouti government is really looking for help in this. they are very, very concerned. >> the mother you interviewed certain certainly illustrated the plight of the yemen people. thank you. activists say syria is now bombing the yarmouk camp in

damascus. isis now controls about 90% of the camp and the government has dropped three dozen barium bom s -- barrel bombs in the past week. any such assault would be a war crime. >> reporter: the horror that is syria, it is a piece of hell. after more than three years of siege, 18,000 palestine refugees and syrians are now being held hostage by other extremist militants. our refugee camp is beginning to resemble our death camp. the residents of yarmouk including 3500 children are being turned into human shields. they face a double edged sword

inside the camp and government forces outside. >> ben says the camp must be stabilized immediately. syria has yet to respond to the allegations about using barrel bombs. >> the cricket world is mourning the passing of richie benaud. during his long and storied broadcasting career he became so renowned he was called the voice of cricket.

benaud's voice was more present than the chirping of the cicadas, but that voice is tragically now still. we remember him with tremendous affection. >> again, the death of richie benaud was devastating. >> it is an historic first in panama. leaders from the united states and cuba expected to meet face to face and a big announcement could be coming. we will have that ahead here. china staking claim on islands in the south china sea. but some believe they're not their islands to take. hey, girl.

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>> high level talks in panama city between u.s. and cuban officials have already started. u.s. president barack obama arrived in panama and secretary of state john kerry met with

cuban foreign minister bruno rodriguez. it's the first high level meeting between the two in about half a century. >> one man watching these is charlie hill. he is thinking about return iin to the united states. we have the exclusive interview. >> he knows how to blend on on the streets of havana. it's been 43 years since cuba gave charlie hill and two other black power militants asylum. he admits hijacking a twa

airliner to get here. he's more cautious about whether he had a role in the murder of a new mexico state police officer. >> i don't particularly want to go into those details. it to >> it took cnn two years to find him. >> i want people to understand that i'm not a criminal or a tryst. >> are you a cop killer? >> no. i never killed cops. i'm a vietnam veteran. people don't ask me did i kill vietnamese and that was authorized by the american government. >> reporter: his two black power partners are now dead. hill told me for the first time he's considering returning to face the charges against him. seeing the grown daughter he left behind and five grandchildren he has never met.

>> my family, i would like to go back to where i was born. >> reporter: hill's new mexico attorney came to cuba last week to discuss his possible return. >> if i knew he was going to get the same type of trial as a wealthy person or a person with white skin in america and this man were to be given his rights then i would say mr. hill, i believe you have an opportunity here to fight for justice. >> while hiding in cuba, hill married, had two children and divorced. he lives on a cuban government pension of $10 a month. cuban officials have so far resisted u.s. efforts to negotiate the return of dozens of american fugitives living here saying the government government has the right to grant asylum to whomever it chooses. new mexico's governor says the

u.s. should insist that cuba sends back charlie hill. hill says he knows he could well be a bargaining chip. >> so if the cuban government feels that me going back is for the benefit of 4 million people, that's my sacrifice. that's part of my sacrifice. i have dedicated my life to making it better for the millions of people. i don't worry about that. >> reporter: while hill ponders returning he says he will take advantage of the expected influx of american visitors to cuba, occasionally stepping out of the shadows to supplement his pension by working as an english-speaking tour guide. china says artificial islands it's creating in a disputed area of the south china sea will be used for military defense and help prepare for typhoons.

the islands would have shelters and navigation aids in a remote area but she would not elaborate on how they would help china's defenses. the move could increase tensions in the region. >> related construction is within china's sovereignty right. it's reasonable fair and legal. it does not affect any other country nor is it against the interest so it is beyond reproach. >> our fuel are fuelling greater anxiety so we're watching these developments closely and we continue to raise our concerns with china as well as with others in the region. >> the philippines have complained formally to the u.n.

about the developments but china says it will not participate in the arbitration case. >> college students in south africa won a symbolic victory. for weeks they demanded the university of cape town remove this statue of cecil rose. on thursday the school did. removed the statue, rose was a colonial era mining magnat. some saw it as a symbol of the country's ugly past. >> i'm all for it. i'm british. if i was a black south african, i'm walking past this every day %-p. looked down upon at my own university. i think it's a good thing to go down. >> i think if they can take it down and put someone who has a real history of this country because this is a bad history

for our country. i think they must teach that this is bad. >> some critics say the statue should be protected as a symbol of the country's heritage. what the newly released dash cam video reveals about the final moments of the victim's life. working on my feet all day gave me pain here. in my lower back but now, i step on this machine and get my number which matches my dr. scholl's custom fit orthotic inserts. now i get immediate relief from my foot pain. my lower back pain. find a machine at drscholls.com i am totally blind. and sometimes i struggle to sleep at night, and stay awake during the day. this is called non-24. learn more by calling 844-824-2424. or visit your24info.com.

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>> welcome back. you're watching cnn newsroom. i'm natalie allen.

here are our top stories. check that out. it left many homes and businesses destroyed when one person was killed and eight injured. the severe weather threat continues as it moves across to the south. barack obama is in panama for the sum it of the americas. mr. obama is expected to have some interaction during the two day event. >> former australia cricket captain beloved and famed broadcaster richie was

indetected into the hall of fame in 1985. >> to the latest developments. deadly shooting of an unarmed african-american man newly released dash cam videos show the last minutes of scott's life. he was pulled over. then everything chaks when the victim, walter scott gets out of his car and takes off running. the patrol car camera didn't capture the actual shooting but a passer by did catch the actual shooting. this case in south carolina is reigniting racial tensions across the country. one civil right's leader calling the killing outrageous and revoting. >> when an officer feels

comfortable enough to fire and execute another citizen and then boldly tamper with the evidence, that tells you there's a culture here that it is all right. >> she is urging south carolina's government to equip every police officer with a body ka camera. >> here is part of my interview with him. we want to tell you some of the video that accompanies this interview is graphic. >> we have said it over and over again and one of the first things that happened to the

victims is they were dehumanized. they were referred to as things. walter scott, someone that was well known, loved and respected. shot down and he was shot in the manner that we have been telling folk for years was done. >> the fact that a video came out and illustrated what you have been dedicated to working for for so many years, what does that -- what did that do to you? how did that feel as far as validation at one point. it's a sickening video. but you were talking about moving forward. i want to get what that meant to you and how that made you feel. >> well, it hurt at first. because this was a human being that was valued by so many. he was no a statistic, a data

set or something that happened to someone. it made me sick because it said to me that the officer had no compassion or feeling for this as a human being. what confirmed that to me personally is when he walked up to mr. scott when he was either dying or dead, the way he treated the con conscious person, the cavalier attitude, the way he responded, he never gave him aid or cpr and never tried to save the life. it's one thing to see it around the world or across the country or in a neighboring state but when it's next door, when it's where you live it tells you that no one is exempt. it can and does happen anywhere. that was profound for me. but more than that, if it were not for that video, walter scott would not be humanized. the context of his life would not have been filled in. now you see different

photographs of walter scott. we hear different commentary about him. we hear emotion and endearment, the things that everyone deserves but rarely gets if you happen to be african-american, unarmed and black. but now walter has that. the sad thing is he had to die to get it. >> reverend nelson speaking with me earlier. ahead here from trash bags to nursing school, the inspirational story of one young woman's triumph over ebola.

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>> it has been one year since the world health organization has declared ebola an outbreak.

from devastation there is always some good news. elizabeth cohen has this exclusive. >> reporter: wearing trash bags as protective gear this nursing student single handedly treated her mother, father, and sister who had ebola all at the same time. remarkably she didn't get infected. when we met in september, the outbreak had cut short her final year of nursing school. why do you want to become a nurse? >> reporter: in order to save life. i don't like to see people suffer. >> reporter: donations poured in from around the world to help continue her education. in january, the 23-year-old said good-bye to her family and her home in liberia and after a trip half way around the globe, she showed up in america for the

first dose of winter weather in her life. >> i'm so happy to be here. >> reporter: a temperature check at the airport confirming she didn't have a fever. but she didn't end up just anywhere. by a sheer twist of fate she ended up in my backyard, at lap ta, georgia. let me show you, they have mannequins, drugs, tools and everything that she needs to develop new nursing skills to take back to liberia. >> i learn new things every day. >> we see a lot of these in liberia correct? >> reporter: she asks her teacher to teach her how to treat burns, a common injury in liberia. >> how's she doing? >> fantastic. she gets nursing. she gets what it's about. >> reporter: she has months of training ahead of her. to leave liberia and your family

that must have been a huge decision. >> i took that decision in order to help my country. new skills, new knowledge that i have learned from here i'm going take it back to liberia and help teach my fellow nurses. >> reporter: you saved three lives. you think you can save more? >> more. >> reporter: this week she met former president jimmy carter, an extraordinary journey for a woman who escaped ebola, protected by trash bags. >> love that story. she is going be quite the nurse. we wish her well. an exploration firm says britain may be sitting on a vast reserve of oil. it could amount to more than double what the country pumped out of the north sea in 40 years.

>> reporter: under these fields in the south of england, oil prospectors think they struck black gold. the limestone could hold tens of billions of barrels of oil, an amount that could dwarf anything the uk has produced ever before. >> it's like a big sponge 1,500 feet thick with vast amounts of oil in it with three big limestones that you can suck the oil out. i's a great find. so you bring it into proper production but this will be a very key part of the strategic energy resource. >> that could mean up to 80 billion barrels of oil in total. the new analysis by independent new tech believed there could be 158 million barrels a square mile which stretches for more

than a thousand square miles. even if that smaller amount could be extracted it would be comparable to the north see. >> devastated. last year it had a major impact on us with explore tory living. what we're trying to do here which is run a nice quiet yard in the heart. >> reporter: it will take more drilling to prove that the oil exists. even then, getting permission to drill it out and overcoming local worries could take many more years. itv news. the leader of france's national front party wants her father to get out of politics.

she believes her father is desperately undermining her efforts to rid the party of an ant anti-semetic image. >> i think deem down he needs to show wisdom. he should accept the consequences of the turmoil that he has created and maybe he should give up responsibilities. i feel a sense of saddens as a daughter and i will feel a sense of sadness as a campaigner but it's much less painful than what my fellow countrymen are going through. >> a father daughter political fight has called the idea of stepping down from politics crazy. his daughter is expected to run for president in 2017. >> well, potential buyers of apple's new smart watch are in for quite a tease. you still will be able to try it out in stores but not quite available. we will check out the watch for

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>> okay. all you apple fanatics in the u.s., if you're watching right now it's probably because you're counting down. about 11 minutes to go until the top of the hour when you will be able to pre-order online the much anticipated apple watch. apple expecting to sell out of the wearable device like duh. when do they not sell out of their new gadgets. if you need some hands on time with it, retail stores are letting people test it. the apple store in hong kong has been open for a few hours now so let's check in with our man who is there. david, are you talking to people? much hubbub about testing out the watch? >> reporter: natalie there is buzz decide the apple store. this is one of the main shopping districts here in hong kong but

there's something missing here. that is crowds. this sidewalk here behind me outside the shop for the iphone 6 and iphone 6plus launch was lined with people. the line was snaking back and forth. there is nobody in line. i will give you a quick look inside the shop right now. inside you have got people getting their glimpse of the watch for the first time. sales will be happening in about ten minutes time. what's interesting, though is that people are coming in, checking it out and trying on the range of watches. all the way up the spectrum. the top price there, 18 karat

gold tops out at $17,000 dollars. natalie? >> most of us will be buying the low end. let's get real right? but i have been reading that, it's not like just getting an iphone which is kind of a no-brainer. you do have to study to figure out how to use this? >> reporter: this is up with one of the questions that people are asking, you know? having a smart phone is one thing and of course in age, a smart phone penetration smart phone use is huge. it ranks in the top ten for smart phone usage. but the question and people are asking this is do you need the phone and a watch? i have to tell you now some of the people we have been talking to have been saying we're really interested in the sport edition. we're interested that it can read our heart rates.

one guy was here from san francisco visiting and said i want to check it out. we saw record sales in china. they help push their sales over the top. >> like you say, not many people at the store. i guess they're waiting to buy it online perhaps. thanks. what a fun gig you had there today. thanks david. high levels of pollution are expected across northwest europe. derek doesn't need an apple watch to tell you about that. that's not how we do it. i promise.

this pollution across parts of europe is so significant that places in france are reducing their speed limits today to help save on emissions that add to kplugs levels. this is a photo taken near paris. just making their way about enjoying their start of spring in the beautiful city. the problem is that the warm air across this region that is settling in as we speak. what we're seeing is a stagnant air pattern that will help increase the levels of pollution. that has impacts on the elderly and young children. look at the temperatures setting or approaching record levels for london, paris, and berlin. this friday being today and into early parts of the weekend but this will be a short lived ev t

event. there is a cold front on the way that will help clear out some of the pollution. of course you can see just that shading of purposing and pink indicating the higher levels. we have a stagnant air mass in place thanks to this high pressure settling in. that has allowed for light winds to settle in. but it has drawn in on the backside of this high. more of a northerly component to the wind. a few different storms that have kicked up dust particles that will travel into france and united kingdom. that will create a possibility of what is called blood rain. it travels to reach into portions of northwest europe and that will perhaps cover cars and

communities. >> blood rain. that sounds awful. >> you have heard of blood moon. >> all right derek. we will see you next hour. thanks for watching. george is back with me for another hour of cnn newsroom in just a second.

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>> saudi arabia says that aid is reaching yemen. >> parts of the uk expected to reach the highest level of air pollution while -- it is a sad day for cricket fans. former star and player announcer richie has died at the age of 84 years old. >> and apple just started taking orders 30 seconds ago for that right there, its new watch. >> welcome to our viewers here in the united states and arnold